The teams meet at the Emirates for the first leg of their last-16 tie, with Bayern, who are 15 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and have won all five of their domestic matches since the winter break, firm favourites to prevail.

"I don't think one player makes the team but in his position he [Wilshere] is one of the best there is, he is a difficult player," Schweinsteiger said. "It has a lot to do with his size. The typical English payer is over 1m 85cm [6ft 1in] but Jack Wilshere [5ft 8in] is very dynamic, he has a very good left foot and he has a really good eye for the way he views the players around him. Those are his strong qualities.

"Arsenal are one of the top 10 teams in Europe. The days of Tony Adams and Thierry Henry have gone, and maybe they are pining for those days. But still they have Wilshere and they have [Santi] Cazorla in there and they are very technical. I don't know why they have not won trophies because they have the quality to win."

Schweinsteiger was one of two Bayern players who failed to score in the penalty shootout defeat and that has provided the 28-year-old with a particular motivation to help the club claim this year's title, with the final at Wembley on 25 May.

"If you have lost two finals then the motivation is there, it is huge," Schweinsteiger said. "But we have to take this game [against Arsenal] as our priority. It is going to be a very hard game and we have to respect Arsenal. They lost at the weekend [against Blackburn] but that doesn't mean it is not going to be difficult."